Hellenistic gems: signatures

Several gem-engravers of the Hellenistic period have signed their work. All are of high quality and many, as the
Berenike II by Nikandros (see Other Royal Portraits), portray rulers of the
Hellenistic courts. Literary sources suggest that some gem engravers profited from royal patronage. The most famous of these,
only known to us from literature, was Pyrgoteles, the engraver favoured by Alexander the Great. It seems that the work of
selected craftsmen was specially commissioned and valued highly, in particular at the beginning of the Hellenistic period.
Signatures become much rarer as the period progresses, probably a symptom of changes in patronage and perhaps even of the
social standing of the artist. More signatures appear again at the end of the period when the interest shown by Roman patrons
seems to have opened new possibilities for Greek engravers.